Page 3 of Forged in Deception

“He’s right, you know,” Gabriel Forge Sr. called out in agreement, sitting up straighter in his favorite armchair that rested in the corner of the living room. “Mary chose everything for our wedding, God rest her. I was happy to make her mine. That was all that mattered to me.”

“Mom would have loved this chaos,” Asher’s twin brother, Benjamin, declared in his rumbling timbre from his place at the far end of the table. “Can’t say I share that particular trait.”

Cameron shot Bristol a wink.

“Guys, guys, guys. You don’t have to tell me twice. I’m just here for the first kiss and the cake.”

He paused, allowing Bristol an opening to give him a playful swat on the arm.

“And the whole binding-our-souls-before-God part, of course,” he added.

Grace Hinton, Ben’s girlfriend and the office manager of their company, Forge Brothers Security, got to her feet and pointed at the back door.

“As maid of honor, I am officially declaring this meeting to be women only until Gabe gets here with dinner. Go take the twins out to the yard. Show them a chicken or something. You, too, Reilly. Gabe Sr. can stay if he wants, but only because it’s his house.”

Ben shot out of his seat before Grace had even finished her sentence, and Asher, Cameron, and their old man followed without hesitation. Reilly paused for a moment to sweep his eight-month-old twin girls, Clara and Josefina, off of the dining room floor.

His wife, Lauren, leaned over and pressed her lips to each of their foreheads in turn, cooing something to them in Spanish that Asher didn’t quite hear.

“No kiss for me?” Reilly joked. “Is our marriage getting boring already?”

Lauren rolled her dark brown eyes and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“Seriously, out!” Grace admonished, shooing them toward the door.

The late afternoon breeze was refreshing as Asher followed the others out into the backyard of the spacious farmhouse. The men sank into the grass and watched as Clara and Josefina each found a crisp fall leaf and proceeded to stick them directly into their mouths.

“So, Benjamin,” Gabe Sr. said, swatting a fly that had landed directly on top of his balding head, “when are you and Gracie getting married?”

Ben paused to pick up Josefina, who was happily poking her sister’s tanned forearm with a stick.

“Soon enough,” he grumbled. “I’ve been waiting for the right moment, but this wedding excitement is sending Grace into hyperdrive.”

“Don’t wait too long, son,” Gabe Sr. replied.

“I agree,” Cameron said. “Honestly, I kind of wish I’d asked Bristol sooner.”

“You guys know that Lauren and I wasted no time,” Reilly added. “No regrets. I love being married. And being a dad.”

Ben narrowed his eyes. “At least I have a girlfriend. Why don’t you guys hound Asher for once? He isn’t even trying to find anybody. He’s getting way too comfortable sitting around listening to music and playing video games until two in the morning.”

Asher put a hand to his chest in mock indignation. “In case you missed it, dear brother, I’ve also been focusing on getting closer to the Lord for the last few years. I’d say that counts for something.”

It was true. Though the Forge boys had all been raised Christian, they hadn’t all stayed on the narrow path as they grew up. Asher certainly hadn’t. Neither had their brother Jacob, who was currently halfway across the world aiding persecuted Christians in an attempt to atone for the sins of his youth.

“It does,” Gabe Sr. acknowledged. “Our relationship with Jesus comes first. But that doesn’t mean you–”

Before the lecture could continue, however, the men were interrupted by the sound of a truck rumbling along the quiet dirt road.

The men went quiet for a couple of minutes as Gabriel Forge Jr. pulled his black Ford into the driveway and cut the engine, but the babies kept up a running commentary of adorable babbling.

“You’re hungry too, huh?” Cameron said to the girls, ruffling the nearest twin’s dark hair with his fingers. Lauren had dressed them in the same outfit today, and though they weren’t identical, Asher had already lost track of which one was which at a glance.

“Good to see you here, bud,” Gabe Sr. said, getting to his feet along with the others as Gabe Jr. stepped out of his truck. Asher and the rest of the boys shot glances back and forth as the two men embraced one another.

Though they were all generally on good terms, there was still some tension yet to be resolved between the Forge family’s patriarch and his oldest son.

Even after more than eight years, it was clear that Gabe Sr. still held some resentment toward Gabe Jr. for leaving the original family agriculture business, Forge & Sons, in order to found a private security firm.

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